History

The Defence of King Richard III Part 5 - Brotherly Love

We have seen so far how Shakespeare has collated various rumours and fabrications to construct a villain in his King Richard III who is a murderer, cold blooded and willing to admit his vicious deeds. We have seen how the foundations were laid for a man capable of killing a young prince in Edward of Westminster. Add to this the killing of a king, Henry VI and there remains only one piece of the…
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History

The Defence of Richard III Part 3 - To Kill A King

On 21st May 1471, 17 days after Tewkesbury, King Henry VI died in the Tower of London. On that same day King Edward IV returned to London in triumph. The White Queen showed us one version of this event, but it did not sit well with the source material available. The…
History

The Defence of Richard III Part 2 - The Foundations of Evil

King Henry VI, who contested the Wars of the Roses, in spirit at least, with King Edward IV had only one child, Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales. In 1469, the Earl of Warwick, the Kingmaker, had rebelled against King Edward IV with the king’s brother George. In need of support, Warwick allied himself with Henry VI’s wife, Margaret of Anjou, in France and planned an invasion to…
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